From Hufflepuff, With Pride
by Finding Your Voice
Summary: A letter written about Hufflepuff and why we aren't just people in the background.


**Ok, this is a one shot letter story thing. I was bored and thinking about the way people teased Hufflepuffs. For the record I am a Hufflepuff, just ask Snatching at Dreams. Please let me know your thoughts on this letter, just no flames. You can say "I disliked this because..." but you can't say "This is crap and you are a #$%^&^% idiot" understood? Good. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hufflepuff or any of the other houses, or the Potterverse. **

To all people everywhere,

Many people say to me, you're a Hufflepuff? You with your smarts, bravery, cunning etc. You of all people are a Hufflepuff. Then they laugh a cruel laughter.

To answer their questions, yes I am a Hufflepuff. Me of all people, with my smarts, bravery and cunning. How, I don't know, all I know is that I love where I am.

Hufflepuff is where I belong. The sorting hat doesn't lie. I think it put me there to prove that Hufflepuffs are awesome too. Our founder was a humble person, Helga Hufflepuff allowed all magical children in, no matter their heritage.

We Hufflepuffs are the people everyone calls duffers, slackers, not special, untalented. And you know what, I'm sick of it. I want to be noticed, not for my achievements, my house name but for who I am. Hufflepuffs are the people the other house say you can take your feelings out on because we are patient and kind, we'll always listen. But they think we are mindless, have no ambitions, no hopes, no DREAMS! We are humans, we have feelings, and we all want something out of life. We dream big, really big because we hope that we will one day we will be noticed for whom we are. I know a Hufflepuff who dearly wants to become Minister for Magic, another wants to run a book shop for under-privileged wizarding families and one of the quieter Hufflepuffs want to be on one of the national quidditch teams! See we do dream.

I mean, sure, we aren't overly brave like the Gryffindors, super-smart like the Ravenclaws or cunning like the Slytherines. We are meant to be humble, loyal, kind, friendly, and patient, the list goes on. But some of us are brave; others smart, still more cunning but we don't over use them. We fit into Hufflepuff because of who we are.

We are the back-stage crew in a production, the spell-checkers in a publishing firm, and the foot soldiers in an army. We fill the desk jobs at the Ministry and make sure your mail gets to you on time. We send your papers to you and brew your potions for St Mungos. We are where we are needed, filling the jobs left behind.

We hope to have families, to pass this school year, to live through wizarding wars, to fall in love, to make friends, to have lives of our own and to get jobs when we leave school. Our hopes are unnoticed, people don't care about them and they are thrown into dark corners. But we still keep going because we are true to ourselves, and to the people we care about.

Our ambitions are left behind by the other houses. People don't care because Slytherin is ambitious. They care about the other houses. They know that the Gryffindors have ambitions to save the world, do something brave, courageous and quite often reckless. Ravenclaws are the ones most likely to succeed with their brains. They'll have high paying jobs. Slytherines will get where they want and a lot of them will kill the best friend to get there (or so it seems). Hufflepuffs will have the jobs no one wants, no one knows or cares about, the ones that keep our world running.

The other day I proved that Hufflepuffs have a limit on their patience, some random for Gryffindor was yakking on about how no one noticed them, how they were teased because they weren't brave and the reason they were telling me was because of my house tie. I was in the library at the time. I stood up, turned slowly to the ignorant boy and said "Guess what, everyone notices you because you're a GRYFFINDOR! No one thinks that you're not brave because you're a GRYFFINDOR!" I turned to the Ravenclaw next to them who had been complaining about their test marks and how someone had laughed at them because they weren't smart apparently "Guess what, everyone thinks your test scores are great because you're a RAVENCLAW! Everyone thinks you're smart because you're a RAVENCLAW!" I faced the Slytherin who had been moaning about how people though he wasn't cunning, how he was jeered at because he could talk to snakes "Guess what, everyone thinks you have great cunning because you're a SLYTHERIN! Everyone loves that you can talk to snakes because you're a SLYTHERIN!" I walked towards the library door. "Guess what, I'm not noticed because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! I'm not considered brave because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! My test scores are great because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! I'm not smart because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! I'm not cunning because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! I can't talk to snakes because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! I'm a duffer because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! I'm not talented because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! I'm expected to listen to your problems because I'm a HUFFLEPUFF! And you know what most of that isn't true!" I left the library to a stunned silence.

So when someone asked me what I really was I stood up in front of the whole school at dinner and said "I am brave because I telling you this, I am noticed because of this and quidditch, I get good test scores because I study, I'm smart because I want to learn, I'm cunning because I figured out how to humiliate you with this, I can talk to snakes but I'm not a parsel tongue I speak English to them, I'm not a duffer, I'm talented, I don't have to listen to your problems and I AM A HUFFLEPUFF! I'M PROUD TO BE A HUFFLEPUFF!" There was laughter and someone yelled "Proud to be a Hufflepuff, yeah right, why would you be proud?" I took a deep breath "I'm proud because my house lets everyone in; I'm proud because Helga Hufflepuff was the wisest founder. She was the wisest because she knew that everyone needs to learn, no matter who you are. I'm proud because my house are all friends, I'm proud because we work hard, I'm proud to be a Hufflepuff because I know you under estimate me and I can show you up. I'm a Hufflepuff because when I put the Sorting Hat on it asked me where I wanted to go, I told it somewhere where I was needed to help and where I would fit in because I thought that helping others was important. The next time you feel like complaining to someone, complain to anyone you like, actually complain to a Hufflepuff because they will be able to show you what it is like to be PROUD of who you are" The Hufflepuffs cheered and everyone else looked shocked.

I don't know why Hufflepuffs are always shown in a bad light. I find it tiresome and rude. Many other Hufflepuffs agree. So next time you think about bagging out Hufflepuff, please think again.

And who am I, I here you ask. Why I am a Hufflepuff, through and through. And this letter comes to you from the very bottom of my heart.

From Hufflepuff, With Pride.


End file.
